Some 2,800 kilometres by car from where he was raised in Tustin, Calif., Siaosi Mariner says he feels right at home.
The 29-year-old made his (unofficial) Canadian Football League return Monday, starting at boundary-side wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ preseason game against the hometown Calgary Stampeders. He finished the game with two passes thrown his way by quarterback Jack Coan, both falling for incompletions in the first quarter. The first was knocked away near the sideline by second-year Stamps defender Anthony Johnson while the second landed a few yards ahead of where a diving Mariner hit the turf.
Mariner played the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Ottawa RedBlacks before moving to the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League. There, he led the UFL in receiving yards with 527 over 10 games in 2025.
“This experience has been different because I’ve always wanted to be a CFL guy,” Mariner told Saskatchewan Roughriders play-by-play announcer Dave Thomas. “Ever since my first time coming to Ottawa this is kind of where I see myself wanting to be.
“When I went to UFL … it was a blessing. I did a lot of good things, led the league last year, but this is always a spot where I wanted to come back to and get back to and finish out the remainder of my career. It’s a beautiful place to be in Saskatchewan.”
Mariner suited up Monday as one of two starting Roughriders receivers with more than one career catch but said he wasn’t taking the opportunity for granted in the lead-up to the game.
In his two seasons with Ottawa, Mariner had 26 catches for 318 yards over 16 games.
“Really just catching the coach’s eye if I’m doing good things, continue to do that in a game,” he said of his goals for Monday. “Just put it all together and show them that they’re right, they did bring me here for a reason to contribute to this team. And yeah I want to be a part of the Riders team and this is my first opportunity to really go out there and do so.”
